Roku lands its first cable channel

Roku has announced a new addition to its programming lineup: WealthTV. The appropriately-named luxury lifestyle network will make its high-definition network feed available to Roku owners, as well as a package of video on demand titles, on a subscription basis for $2.99 per month.

Whether or not you are interested in the content, which covers world travel, outrageous cars, culinary delights, fashion and other topics along those lines, the deal is important for an entirely different reason: it marks the first time a cable channel has joined the streaming device and will offer its content on a 24/7 live streaming basis.

It’s an interesting departure from the traditional cable subscription model, where in order to get the channels that you want you’re generally forced into paying for a package that contains a lot more that you don’t care about. It would be interesting to see other networks following suit, though that’s unlikely to happen anytime soon considering most of them sign exclusivity or affiliate deals with operators that impede them to use alternative distribution methods.